Pyongyang threatens nuclear fire for Japan

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North Korea threatened yesterday to turn Japan into a "nuclear sea of fire" if it comes under attack from the United States.

"If the United States ignites a nuclear war, the US military bases in Japan would serve as a detonating fuse to turn Japan into a nuclear sea of fire," the North's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in an article monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

The threat came as the US and Japan detected signs that North Korea was preparing to launch a ballistic missile capable of reaching almost anywhere in Japan, Japanese Government sources said yesterday.

The preparations were detected after North Korea refused to take part in a fourth round of six-party talks on ending its nuclear ambitions and said it would never give up its nuclear deterrent.

Tokyo and Washington had detected the signs after analysing data from reconnaissance satellites and radio traffic, the Japanese Government sources said.

The North Korean attack was one of the most searing threats directed against Japan, Yonhap said. The Stalinist North has accused Tokyo of supporting what it sees as a US campaign to isolate it.

In an English-language article published by Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency, Rodong Sinmun accused the US of converting Japan into "strategic vantage points" for a pre-emptive attack on North Korea.